Thoughts from someone who remembers when we respected our president and enjoyed the esteem of the world; when our airwaves weren't polluted by rancid, hate-filled diatribes of reckless talking heads; when our Senators and Representatives legislated first for the good of the nation and not special interest agendas; when religion was spiritual, not political; and, the rights of women were respected, not constantly under attack by political panderers. We can do better.

Friday, August 10, 2007

The Decider Babbles On...

President Bush held a press conference yesterday.... asserting that the economy is strong.... in the real world the stock market DOW was in the process of losing almost 390 points.... and then took questions, or should we say listened to questions and then drifted off into la-la land when answering.Example. QUESTION: "Given the decision to commute the sentence of Libby, given the performance of Iraqi leaders, is it fair for people to ask questions about your commitment to accountability."BUSH: [After declaring himself "deliberate in my decision-making" and a "fair person"... he wandered back to his favorite subject, Iraq.] ..... "It matters if the United States does not believe in the universality of freedom. It matters to the security of people here at home if we don't work to change the conditions that caused 19 kids to be lured onto airplanes to come and murder our citizens."The first question one has to ask on Iraq is: Is it worth it? I could not send a mother's child into combat if I did not believe it was necessary for our short-term and long-term security to succeed in Iraq."Whoa! Work to "change the conditions" that caused "19 kids" to be "lured" onto airplanes on 9/11. That sounds like clowns handing out lollipops to beardless innocents.First of all, the terrorists weren't kids. They ranged in age from the early twenties to 33.And, to "change the conditions" that caused the terrorists to act we should have invaded Saudi Arabia. Of the nineteen "kids,"fifteen were from Saudi Arabia, two from the United Arab Emirates, one from Egypt and one from Lebanon.... none were from Iraq.Bush was asked about Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki's current (and photographed) hand-holding visit with Iran's madman President Ahmadinejad, where it was reported that Maliki said "he appreciated Iran's positive and constructive stance" on Iraq.Bush's delusional reply, "Now if the signal is that Iran is constructive, I will have a heart to heart with my friend, the prime minister. Because I don't believe they are constructive."I don't think he, in his heart of heart, thinks they're constructive either."Oh no.... The Decider is looking into another Putinish soul and opining.Will someone please tell Bush his hair is on fire! That we are fighting Iran's war for them in Iraq.... that both Maliki and Iran are Shiites.... and, that as soon as we turn our backs Maliki will rush into Iran's arms... if not sooner.Eugene Robinson in his op ed today, "Just Another Vacation From Reality"(WaPo) asks why Iraq or any nation would appreciate being invaded, occupied and having Western democracy imposed at the point of a gun?They wouldn't. But, The Decider justifies.... "I firmly believe it is an ideological struggle. And I believe it's a struggle between the forces of moderation and reasonableness and good and the forces of murder and intolerance."And what has made the stakes so high is that those forces of murder and intolerance have shown they have a capacity to murder innocent people in our own country....."The Decider won't recognize that the "forces of murder".... no longer "kids," I guess.... weren't from Iraq, but from Saudi Arabia.What he "thinks," and his neocon ideology justifies, is clear. As long as he is in office he'll wage war in Iraq, regardless of the facts on the ground or the price our country is paying.Bush turns a deaf ear to the American public's answer "NO" when he asks... "Is it worth it?."As Robinson says.... "if you think Bush is going to care what [Gen.] Petraeus's report says in September, get out of the sun immediately and drink lots of water. You're delirious."